Fri, Apr 21, 2006 page24

• Nicky kicks butt to keep Blues alive

  SOCCER Nicky Butt and substitute Mikael Forssell helped Birmingham beat Blackburn, while Villarreal lost to Arsenal, despite some unexpected support

  • AFP
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  A late goal from substitute Mikael Forssell helped Birmingham secure a precious 2-1 home victory over Blackburn on Wednesday which could prove crucial in their fight to beat the drop.

  Steve Bruce's men now have 32 points from 35 games and this win, only their eighth of the season, allowed them to leapfrog Portsmouth into fourth from last on goal difference -- although City's fight to beat the drop is far from over.

  "Mikael has come off the bench and scored what could end up being the biggest goal for us for some time," a relieved Bruce said.

  

  A squirrel passes Arsenal players as it runs across the pitch during the Champions League semi-final first leg soccer match between Arsenal and Villarreal at Arsenal's Highbury stadium in London on Wednesday. Arsenal won 1-0.

  PHOTO: AP

  "We've kept it alive. A week ago I maybe thought we were dead and buried, but we've managed to dig out results. The players have been terrific and we've given ourselves an outstanding chance of staying up," he said.

  Birmingham forward Nicky Butt opened the scoring shortly after the hour mark, however former City midfielder Robbie Savage leveled barely a quarter of an hour later.

  Savage appeared to have secured the visitors a share of the spoils which would have boosted their bid to secure a ticket to European football next season.

  However, Forssell ruined Blackburn's night with his first Premiership goal in open play for two years, drilling home a cross from Julian Gray to seal a 2-1 which moves City ahead of Portsmouth on goal difference.

  Blackburn remain sixth in the Premiership, a whopping 34 points adrift of Chelsea, but only three behind Arsenal.

  "I'm very disappointed," Blackburn boss Mark Hughes said.

  "We had high hopes and wanted to win the game but it was a poor match from both sides. At 1-1 we were in the ascendancy but then we switched off and didn't defend balls into the box. We're disappointed but we're still in the European mix," Hughes said.

  Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger admitted he had been left frustrated by his side's failure on Wednesday to secure more than a one-goal lead to take to Spain for next week's Champions League semi-final second leg against Villarreal.

  A close-range strike from centerback Kolo Toure, four minutes before half-time, was all the Gunners had to show for their near total domination of the final European match to be played at Highbury, although clear cut chances were thin on the ground.

  "I am [frustrated]," Wenger said. "It was a tense game, but I think we should have got one more goal. It was a little bit difficult because I think we were caught between keeping a clean sheet and not conceding a goal and we didn't really find our flow in the second half."

  "I felt as well that their midfield did very well and we found it difficult to dictate the play and impose our normal game," he said.

  Wenger remained confident that his side could finish the job in Spain next week and book their place in next month's Paris final against either AC Milan or Barcelona.

  Wenger conceded that Villarreal should have probably had a penalty just before half-time when Gilberto Silva brought down striker Jose Mari inside the box.

  Villarreal players and officials complained about their failure to win the penalty decision, but say they can still reach the final.

  Austrian referee Konrad Plautz chose not to award a penalty when Villarreal striker Jose Mari Romero was felled by Gilberto Silva just before halftime, and denied the Spanish team the chance to equalize Toure's 40th-minute goal.

  Villarreal general manager Jose Manuel Llaneza said the refereeing had made him "indignant."

  "It's incredible what the referee had done against us. All that's left for us is to forget what we have suffered and on Tuesday go for them on the field of play," Llaneza told Cadena SER radio station. "We have to eliminate them. We can't protest to UEFA because it's not worth it."

  Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini said that Plautz "lacked impartiality."

  "I think the referee constantly made mistakes, he didn't notice when our players were pulled as well as several fouls," Pellegrini said.

  Pellegrini acknowledged his team "didn't play a good game," but said it was still possible to reach its first European final against either FC Barcelona or AC Milan in Paris on May 17. Barcelona won the first leg 1-0 in Italy on Tuesday.

  The match was held up briefly in the first half when a squirrel that had scampered around the Villarreal half as Arsenal attacked was ushered off the field to crowd chants of "there's only one squirrel."

  "He was quite fast and dribbling," Wenger said.
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